“Can Behavioral Tools Improve Online Student Outcomes? Experimental Evidence from a Massive Open Online Course”, 2018-09-01 (; backlinks):
I design 3 behaviorally motivated software tools for students in an online course.
Tools include (1) a commitment device, (2) an alert, and (3) a distraction-blocking tool.
I test these tools in a randomized controlled trial in a massive open online course.
The commitment device increased both effort and performance in the course.
Neither the alert nor distraction-blocking tools led to different outcomes from control.
In order to address poor outcomes for online students, I leverage insights from behavioral economics to design 3 software tools including (1) a commitment device, (2) an alert tool, and (3) a distraction-blocking tool. I test the impact of these tools in a massive open online course (MOOC).
Relative to students in the control group, students in the commitment device treatment spend 24% more time working on the course, receive course grades that are 0.29 standard deviations higher, and are 40% more likely to complete the course. In contrast, outcomes for students in the alert and distraction-blocking treatments are statistically indistinguishable from the control.
[Keywords: education, self control, commitment devices, reminders]
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